| Ukraine parliament votes to ask for foreign mediation in crisis -1
KIEV, April 9 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's parliament voted Monday to ask for international mediation in an ongoing standoff with the president, who has ordered the dissolution of the Supreme Rada and early elections. The legislature, where Moscow-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has a majority, has refused to obey the April 2 order. Thousands of the majority coalition's supporters have been rallying in the capital waiting for a Constitutional Court decision on the matter, fueling the ex-Soviet state's worst crisis since the 2004 "orange revolution." Lawmakers said they would ask governments and parliaments in Europe and other countries, as well as international organizations, to send monitors to Ukraine, which, they said, is facing "a threat to its sovereignty, territorial integrity and regional stability." The Supreme Rada held an emergency session Monday after its decision late last week to adjourn until April 17.
The Nature of Negotiation
We sometimes think of diplomacy and negotiation as merely political efforts to match up different political or economic interests. But at their root is a deeper spiritual hope: stretching ourselves to broaden the circle of community. Through negotiating, through diplomacy, at best we become able not just to compromise, to "split the difference," but to stand in someone else's shoes .
Nationwide Rates Set To Rise
Mar. 31--TALLAHASSEE -- Arbitrators have overruled the state and will allow Nationwide Insurance to raise homeowners' premiums by an average of 54 percent. The increase by the Tampa Bay area's second-largest insurer applies to hurricane and nonhurricane coverage, though the amount will vary by location. Nationwide spokesman Eric Hardgrove said the company will implement the increase "as soon as possible." Nationwide, which has 240,000 policyholders in Florida and 42,005 in the Tampa Bay area, sought a 71 percent rate increase in July, but regulators rejected it. The company then filed for arbitration and won the case during hearings earlier this month. The ruling was released Friday. Under the original 71 percent average request, increases for the Tampa Bay area varied widely. Hillsborough County was projected to be 49.8 percent; Pinellas, 134.6 percent; Pasco, 73.7 percent; and Polk, 43.7 percent.
Maize and wheat prices expected to rise
In an interview with the Economist, Mr Rolf Eggers, procurement manager at Namib Mills, the country's leading miller, said he expects the price of maize in the country to rise. "Namibia imports approximately 80% of its maize from South Africa , therefore the price adjustments in that country will have a definite effect on the current structure of maize prices in Namibia". Namibia imports in the region of 80 000 tonnes of maize annually from South Africa. According to Eggers the optimal planting season for maize ended 20 December last year, but as a result of poor rainfall and dry weather conditions, yields are expected to be much less than originally anticipated. "Crop sizes are expected to be cut next year, but Namibia should not experience any maize shortages", he commented. Eggers estimates that farmers in South Africa will only be able to plant 2.5 - million hectares of maize compared with the 3.2 - million hectares planted during the previous season.
Zimbabwe mediator 'faces uphill struggle'
Mbeki was entrusted with the task by fellow southern African leaders at a summit last month to broker talks between the opposition and President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) party. Sources close to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said Mbeki had already begun paving the way by setting up a five-strong team to draft the ground rules for the negotiations. In an interview 10 days ago, Mbeki acknowledged that there was ultimately little he could do if neither side wanted the mediation to work. "The only way to deal with these problems and the only way to achieve results is if we encourage the Zimbabwean political parties to engage with one another ... Whether we succeed or not is up to the Zimbabwean leadership," he told the Financial Times "None of us in the region has any power to force the Zimbabweans to agree." Both Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai have given their approval to Mbeki's intervention but Zimbabwe commentators have voiced deep scepticism about him getting results given the mistrust and issues to be tackled.
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